Thursday, December 31, 2015

The lovely Candice Night is an American vocalist/lyricist,
multi-instrumentalist for the traditional folk/rock group Blackmore's Night
alongside her husband, legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (Rainbow). After
approaching Blackmore as a fan, the pair struck up a friendship over shared
interests and then entered into their combined professional and personal
partnership in 1997. Seven studio albums feature Night's distinctive vocals on
a range of soft-rock and renaissance inspired songs.

I spent most of the post-Christmas period suffering from a
rare head cold and turned to her music to while away the hours. I thought
perhaps some of you might appreciate my early "gal" Friday post as a
nice segue into New Years Eve. Have a great year!

Friday, December 4, 2015

It goes without saying that the BBC’s Doctor Who series is the
longest running genre show on television, and although the series conveniently
refreshes its cast by having the lead character periodically regenerate into whichever actor is currently cast as the Doctor, needless to say that is not a conceit
that has been extended to the vast accumulation of popular companions to the dozen plus
official Who’s.

Now, on the verge of the ninth season premiere, comes
confirmation that Jenna Coleman will officially be leaving the role of
companion Clara Oswald behind. She has been part of the cast since
2012, one of the longest lasting companions. Both talented and lovely,
there is little doubt that Ms. Coleman will continue to impress with her
upcoming role as the young Queen Victoria in an ITV production. The Catacombs
bids a fond if regretful adieu to Jenna/Clara (you were one of my all-time favorites). You will be sorely missed!

How it all began ....

In 1933, publishers at Eastern Color Press, intent to make better use of their printing equipment (which frequently sat idle between jobs), came up with the idea of printing an 8-page comic section that could be folded down from the large broadsheet to a smaller 9-inch by 12-inch format. The result was the first modern comic book. Containing reprints of newspaper comic strips, this experimental comic book titled "Funnies On Parade" was given away for free. It proved so popular that the following year Eastern published "Famous Funnies" and took the bold step of selling the comic for ten cents through chain stores. The enterprise was a smashing success and Eastern began churning out numerous reprints on a monthly basis. Other publishers, eager to get in on the profits, jumped on the bandwagon and the comic book industry was born!